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Interviews | November 3, 2009

Sheila A.: IMG On Storytelling: The Powells.com Interview with Donald Miller



donaldmillerDonald Miller is a Christian writer, but the question that Miller asks with his latest memoir, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, is applicable to... Continue »
  1. $13.99 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

1001 Nights in Iraq: The Shocking Story of an American Forced to Fight for Saddam Against the Country He Loves

by Shant Kenderian

1001 Nights in Iraq: The Shocking Story of an American Forced to Fight for Saddam Against the Country He Loves Cover

ISBN13: 9781416540199
ISBN10: 1416540199
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

Only 2 left in stock at $10.50!

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Shant Kenderian's visit to Baghdad in 1980, at age seventeen, was supposed to be a short one — just enough time to make peace with his estranged father before returning to his home in the United States. But then Saddam Hussein invaded Iran and sealed off Iraq's borders to every man of military age — including Shant. Suddenly forced onto the front lines, his two-week visit turned into a nightmare that lasted for ten years.

1001 Nights in Iraq presents a human story that provides unique insight into a country and culture that we only get a hint of in the headlines. After surviving the horrors of the Iran-Iraq War, Shant was then forced to fight on the front lines of Desert Storm without being given the proper equipment, including a gun, but miraculously survived to be captured by the Americans and become a POW. He underwent starvation, heavy interrogations, and solitary confinement, but what broke him in the end was his love affair with a female American soldier. Yet throughout this whole ordeal, Shant never lost his respect for people, his faith in God, or his sense of humor.

Review:

"Kenderian, an Iraqi-American, traces his strange odyssey from American schoolboy to Iraqi soldier and U.S. prisoner of war in this unique and informative autobiography. Kenderian was a permanent U.S. resident when he traveled to Iraq in 1980 to visit his estranged father. While there, Saddam invaded Iran and closed the country's border, stranding Kenderian, who was eventually drafted into the Iraqi navy for three and a half years. After the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam invaded Kuwait in August 1990, recalling Kenderian to active duty before he could escape. When the landing craft he was on hit a mine in the Persian Gulf — ironically placed by his own unit — the survivors were picked up by an American frigate and the relieved Kenderian became a POW. Because of his flawless English, Kenderian was a favorite of his captors, worked informally as an interpreter and even became romantically involved with a female army reservist. After much diplomatic maneuvering, the self-described 'man without a country' was granted 'humanitarian parole' and returned to the U.S. Kenderian's decade-long ordeal is a bittersweet story, but after acknowledging his 'really bad timing,' he eschews the negative for an inspirational account of perseverance and survival. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"Kenderian writes matter-of-factly, with the stoicism of someone who has endured the seemingly unendurable. But his story is mind-blowing enough to keep you turning the pages." — Entertainment Weekly

Review:

"Shant Kenderian takes us on an emotional journey that is both tormented and complex and, in the process, establishes an important context through which we can view today's Iraqi conflicts. What a ride!"-- Liz Balmaseda, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist

Review:

"We put Shant on our show because his story was human scale, in a way a lot of the daily news from Iraq can't be." --Ira Glass, host and producer of public radio's and Showtime's "This American Life"

Review:

"Kenderian writes matter-of-factly, with the stoicism of someone who has

endured the seemingly unendurable. But his story is mind-blowing enough

to keep you turning the pages."

— Entertainment Weekly

Review:

"If it were only a war story it would be riveting. If it were only a love story it would be profoundly moving. And if it were only the story of a man never losing hope in the face of bureaucracy, bigotry and bad luck — it would be an inspiration. But, it is all of those things and a good deal more. Shant Kenderian has returned to us from hell with a message of hope."-- Scott Z. Burns, producer of An Inconvenient Truth

Synopsis:

A memoir of war-torn Iraq like no other, this poignant book takes readers through an odyssey stranger than fiction--the true story of an Iraqi-born American forced to fight for Saddam and then for his freedom from American forces as a POW.

Product Details

ISBN:
9781416540199
Subtitle:
The Shocking Story of an American Forced to Fight for Saddam Against the Country He Loves
Author:
Kenderian, Shant
Publisher:
Atria Books
Subject:
Political
Subject:
Military
Subject:
Soldiers
Subject:
Persian gulf war, 1991
Subject:
Military - Veterans
Subject:
Military - Persian Gulf War (1991)
Subject:
Iran-iraq war, 1980-1988
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Publication Date:
June 2007
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
292
Dimensions:
8.36x5.61x.75 in. .64 lbs.

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